What do Wiccan's believe?

Question

I realize that this is a very general question but I am Christian who has been very sheltered from other religions and am searching for a truth that feels right for me. I am curious to know what you feel is important about your religion.

Answer 1

Well we can't fit EVERYTHING into here, so I'll just go over the basic stuff that people assume. We do not worship or believe in the devil, we do not use magick to harm people, we believe in god, but we do not see god as a male deity, we see god as both male and female, no not a unic, just two souls combined. We support gay rights, womens rights, and all sorts of other stuff. Not all wiccans do magick, we respect all other religions, and wiccans can be either male or female. We do not point and zap, spells re basically prayers that usually rhyme and usually involve some kind of ritual to make them more accurate. If you have any other questions feel free to email and ask. I'm glad your finding an interest in other religions.

-Blessed Be

Answer 2

Wicca
Founded by British civil servant Gerald Gardner in the 1930s, Wicca is a Neopagan religion which tends to focus on the worship of two deities: the Goddess and the Horned God. Wiccan morality is based upon a princinple known as Wiccan Rede, according to which "An' it harm none, do what ye will" (here, "an" is an archaic form of "if").

Gardner claimed that what he promoted was a originally a part of matriarchal religions of pre-historic Europe. He also claimed that the details were taught to him by an old woman called Dorothy Clutterbuck. Today, however, many believe that he invented it himself, drawing on such sources like Aradia: Gospel of the Witches by Charles G. Leland, and Freemasonry. During Gardner's day the idea that there existed at one time in prehistory matriarchal religions was also very popular; today, however, that belief has been largely rejected in the academic community due to a lack of evidence.

Answer 3

That is a very general question. The person who posted a link to wikipedia is a decent article. You can find a lot of great information on http://www.witchvox.com and http://www.religioustolerance.org . If you come up with any specific questions I would be happy to answer them for you. Feel free to send me a message if you would like to chat about it more!

Blessings and Light!

~RW

Answer 4

Look at this encyclopedia http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wiccan

Answer 5

These beliefs are common to most Wiccans, though perhaps not all. In general, however, if a person is calling himself a Wiccan, then he or she subscribes to nearly all of these concepts.

An it Harm None, Do What Thou Wilt
This is also known as the "Rede", which translates into "rule", and is the rule by which Wiccan's live. "Harm None" also includes yourself, as well as other living beings, and indeed the planet itself. There are almost as many different interpretations as to what constitutes harm as there are Wiccans, and it may get confusing at times. It is the responsibility of each person to look at their actions and their intentions and decide if harm will be done. You are responsible for all of your own words and actions, and you may do whatever you want to do within that framework. Which brings us to two other beliefs of Wicca, that of Threefold Return, and Karma.
Threefold Return and Karma
The Law of Threefold Return basically states that whatever you do returns to you threefold, good or ill. Karma is the manifestation of that law in action. It isn't punishment, because it is simply a balancing out of what you have earned. Similar to "as you sow, so shall you reap" or "what comes around, goes around". This Law also states that you are bound to return good with good, and ill with ill, but there are people who don't believe in that and don't practice it. There are ways to defend yourself by sinply sending the negative energy back to it's source. For more on that read Negative Magick and How to Reverse It, in another file.
Responsiblity for Your Own Actions
Here again is the same theme, you have the sole responsibility for your words and deeds. And also for how you choose to live your life, and how you react to what happens to you. Part of this comes from the belief that we choose our lives and our circumstances (yes, our parents too!) before we are born so that we will have the opportunity to learn the life lessons our soul wishes to learn in this incarnation. That being the case, we are here to learn, to grow, to love, and to be happy doing it. We do not believe in a "devil" who makes us act wrongly, nor do we believe that we only have to say "I'm sorry" and everything is all better either. The best way to make amends for harming someone is to admit to the person you were wrong and to ask them how you can make it up to them. Sometimes that just isn't possible, but with some thought and meditation on it, a enlightened person can find a solution that helps in a concrete way.
Reincarnation
As you probably guessed from the previous paragraph, most Wiccans believe in reincarnation in some form. Whether or not we all believe that our souls return as plants and animals, or just as humans, is debated among different groups. But we do believe that we return, again and again, to learn our life's lessons on this physical plane. Nature is cyclical, all things that die are reborn, as in the flowers that return year after year, and the sea that becomes clouds, that becomes rain, that becomes rivers, that returns to the sea again. Nature teaches us that nothing ever truly dies, but that it keeps returning, perhaps in another form. So death holds less sting for us, as we believe that we will live and love the same people again. We will miss them for a time, and then be rejoined.
Duality of Deity
This means actually two things. One is that we believe in male and female energies in our deity, both God and Goddess. Again we look to nature, which shows us that it takes both energies to create life. Also, nothing is ever all good or all bad, and our deities contain creative as well as destructive forces in them. Nothing new gets created without something being destroyed first, this is the balance of the Universe. Even scientists tell us that matter and energy can never be destroyed, just changed from one form to another. And so, take the leap here, Good and Evil are judgements that we make. Destructive or constructive is dependent upon your point of view, and our deities contain both these energies. There is no all good God nor all bad one, there is only the ALL.
All Gods Are One God, All Goddesses Are Also One
You may hear many Wiccans use different God or Goddess names, and indeed we have whole Pantheons of Goddesses and Gods. But our inner self is aware that these are all aspects of the ALL. Let me explain it this way: you may be a mother, an employee, a sister, a daughter, and a wife, and you will act differently in each of those roles; yet you are one person. Just as you will have different attributes depending on the title you are called, so do the Gods and Goddesses. Since God/dess is ALL, we can call upon whatever attribute or name we need at the time, knowing that this is but a small part.
Deity As Immanent
Immanent means that God/dess is within us - within all of us. And also within all of nature, which is why we revere nature. Heinlein wrote "Thou art God" and "Thou art Goddess", and some Christians will call this the "Christ Conciousness"; it means the same thing. Deity lives within us, we are the God/dess incarnate.
Sacredness of All Life
If deity is within all life, then it follows that all life is sacred, doesn't it? So, then, do we starve? Mother Nature's children don't starve, but they do show honor and respect to the beings they have to eat to survive. That chicken you had for dinner a couple of nights ago wasn't made in the supermarket, it was born from another chicken. It was alive, and then sacrificed, so that you could eat it to live. Honor that sacrifice, at least silently. That salad you had for lunch didn't start life in a plastic bag, but as a living, growing plant. Remember that these are also the Goddesses' creatures, and deserve to be acknowledged and thanked for their sacrifices. Honor can be a simple thank you, or watering a plant you see on the side of the road that needs a drink, or maybe picking up trash that someone else carelessly dumped somewhere. Honoring the earth as our mother goes along with this concept.
Reverence and Mirth
This happens to be our covens' motto, and we picked it for good reason. Reverence should be balanced by mirth, too much of one or the other, and your life is either too serious, or too frivolous. The "Charge of the Goddess" tells us to balance our lives, and to live our lives fully, and to be happy. Bliss is not a "sin" in our religion, and what brings you happiness is to be cherished.
Honor the Sabbats
Most Wiccans celebrate the eight Sabbats of the Year, though there are some traditions that only recognize the four Major Sabbats. The word "sabbat" comes from the Babylonian and mean's "heart's rest". In our tradition we honor all eight, and we do no personal magic for mundane needs on those days. We still have the other 357 days for whatever we need to do! On the Sabbats we honor the Lord and Lady and the season of the earth that we are in. We try to tie them into both the agricultural times and what is happening in our own lives. "To every thing there is a season".
The following link may also be of some interest to you.
http://www.joellessacredgrove.com/principles.html

Answer 6

Oh go to bed.

Answer 7

Wicca is a henotheistic religion, which recognises its own specific gods, while not denying the existence of gods and goddesses from other pantheons. Wicca itself is a 'hard polytheistic' religion, meaning that Wicca see their deities as specific individual beings. The gods of Wicca are known as the Horned God and Great Mother, these are outer court references meant to be used as place holders for the real names of their gods until the Seeker is initiated and taught those names.

Wicca was founded by Gerald Gardner in around the 1930's, although the exact date is open for discussion, also open for discussion is whether Gardner founded Wicca entirely or whether it was an already existing spirituality which he merely re-introduced and re-invented, either way he is considered the founding father of Wicca. Gardner brought together Paganism with influences from many sources including the rituals and teachings of Freemasonry and Golden dawn resulting in a unique orthopraxic religion. Wicca embraces it's early Pagan roots in history, the history of Pagan faiths and the gods whom they followed and worshipped, Wicca also introduces eastern philosophy into it's primarily western path, along with this possibly one of Wicca's best known features, that of religious witchcraft.

Wicca is gaining much attention due to a change in peoples approach to religion and the increase in public awareness of the religion through media attention and with this attention there has come much change to the face of Wicca with many forms:


WICCA:
Wicca is an initiate only mystery tradition, or more precisely a priesthood, where one can trace their lineage back to Gardner. Initiation is the only way into Wicca, and is carried out by a Wicca coven, initiation into a coven requires formal training after which initiation and a system of degrees is followed.

Wicca follows a strong set of doctrines, one who takes on the name 'Wicca' is also taking on these doctrines as well as practices and beliefs of Wicca, the title of 'Wicca' implies more than that you are a member of Wicca, but also that you have worked long and hard to earn that title.
Seekers are those who wish to become Wicca however have yet to find a Wicca coven. Wicca covens can be hard to find let alone become a member of, often those whom are without a coven continue to study Wicca and surrounding subjects while seeking a Wicca coven to join.

Often Wicca is described as 'Traditional Wicca' or 'BTW:British Traditional Wicca'.


NEO-WICCA:
Neo-wicca is a new phenomenon, which is usually wholly eclectic, however like Wicca there are various different traditions. Neo-wicca often learn on their own terms, from books and other sources, but have little or no formal training and no initiation into Wicca. The beliefs of Neo-wicca are generally similar to that of Wicca however the details can often vary greatly as it follows the new age idea of personal belief/spirituality over formal religious doctrine. Neo-Wicca have varied views of the divine, either following soft-polytheism seeing all gods and goddesses as one god/goddess, polytheism working with gods and goddesses from various pantheons or pantheism working with a single divine present in all.

The 'Neo' in Neo-wicca refers to the New Age approach taken by Neo-wicca that puts emphasis on personal spirituality or belief over the organized religion of Wicca. It also refers to a new take on Wicca, this has less to do with the age of the religion but the idea that this is a belief system which may have come naturally from Wicca if it was allowed to evolve in it’s own time, media influences have brought about Neo-wicca, it develops paralleled to Wicca, but is not part of Wicca.

Often Neo-wicca describe themselves as 'Eclectic Wicca' or 'Solitary Wicca', although not actually Wicca.


Although Wicca is heavily influenced or based upon witchcraft it is not the main belief behind Wicca, the terms 'Wicca' and 'witch' are not interchangeable. The practice of witchcraft fits well with the Wicca way of prayer and ritual, which often involves a highly personal relationship with the divine, the witchcraft of Wicca also works well with how Wicca views the universe as working, however it should be noted that witchcraft can be practiced by many religions as well as by Atheists and Agnostics.

Wicca is not dogmatic, much of the morality and ethics of Wicca are in fact determined by the individuals take on a given situation. Often followers of Wicca will incorporate utilitarianism, which means that an act is carried out for the greater good or elements of their own morality rather then seek to find suitable behavior based on Wicca doctrine.

The rede plays a large part in the morality and ethics of Wicca, there are many takes and much documentation on the rede that can be found in many places, the rede however in itself can be clearly understood by the quote below given by Gardner himself.

"[Witches] are inclined to the morality of the legendary Good King Pausol, "Do what you like so long as you harm no one". But they believe a certain law to be important, "You must not use magic for anything which will cause harm to anyone, and if, to prevent a greater wrong being done, you must discommode someone, you must do it only in a way which will abate the harm." Gerald Gardner, The Meaning of Witchcraft, p 127 in the 1982 and 1999 printings

Another aspect of the Wiccan ethical philosophy is that of the 'law of return' often known as the 'three fold law' which is similar to that of western karmic philosophy, that anything you do either good or bad will come back to you. Law of return is often more closely associated with magic ethics rather than the everyday ethics covered by the rede or other Wiccan ethical beliefs, however is often thought of as cause and effect. This is also often referred to as the 'rule of three' or 'law of three'. For the most part these morals and ethics are held more strongly by Neo-wicca, within Wicca these are often only taught to new initiates and Seekers to help them learn responsibility for their actions, for the most part Wicca rely on personal moral and ethical philosophies.